Lobbying blitz by FirstEnergy as Trump mulled bailouts for coal and nuke plants

This article by Energy and Policy Institute looks into the activity of Washington DC’s top-earning law firm in lobbying the Trump Administration to secure the bailouts that are currently being attempted.

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By Dave Anderson, The Energy and Policy Institute

A new filing in the bankruptcy case for FirstEnergy Solutions details how lobbyists at Akin Gump, Washington, DC’s top-earning lobbying firm, spent hundreds of hours in April working on a renewed campaign to secure bailouts for the utility’s coal and nuclear power plants from the Trump administration and state lawmakers in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The White House issued a statement on June 1, 2018, which said President Trump has directed his Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to “prepare immediate steps to stop the loss” of what the administration described as “fuel-secure sources” in a thinly veiled reference to coal and nuclear power plants.

The statement was thin on details, but came after Bloomberg broke the news that the Trump administration has been working on plans to use rarely invoked provisions of the Defense Production Act and Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to bail out coal and nuclear plants. Bloomberg obtained a May 29, 2018 draft memo that was circulated before a National Security Council meeting.

“Federal action is necessary to stop the further premature retirements of fuel-secure generation capacity,” the memo said.

On March 29, FirstEnergy Solutions petitioned Energy Secretary Rick Perry to use the emergency powers of Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to order regional grid operator PJM to bail out a long list nuclear and coal power plants.

On April 13, Akin Gump reported a “call to DOE re potential 202c determination” and a “call with White House staff re 202 status” by “JRT” or James Romney Tucker. The filing disclosed $53,312.00 in fees at a rate of $930 per hour for Tucker’s “Public Law & Policy” work for FirstEnergy Solutions.

Tucker worked for Newt Gingrich in 1996, when Gingrich was speaker of the U.S. House, according to his bio on Akin Gump’s website. Gingrich is now a close ally of President Trump.

President Trump visited West Virginia that same day and promised supporters that his administration would “look at” using its Section 202(c) emergency powers to keep coal and nuclear power plants running.

Akin Gump disclosed a total of $27,607.50 in fees at a rate of $675 per hour for “Public Policy” work by Geoffrey Verhoff. According to his bio on the firm’s website:

Mr. Verhoff continues to maintain an active role in Republican politics. He is a current regional vice chairman of the Republican National Committee’s finance leadership team and has been extensively involved in the past four presidential campaigns, as well as numerous House, Senate and third-party efforts.

Jeff Miller ran Rick Perry’s 2016 unsuccessful presidential campaign. After Perry became Energy Secretary, Miller started his own lobbying firm, Miller Strategies LLC, and has lobbied on behalf of FirstEnergy. According to Bloomberg, Miller attended a fundraiser dinner with Trump the night before the president made the public comments about the utility’s bailout request. Miller Strategies has reported $110,000 in lobbying fees billed to FirstEnergy each quarter since the third quarter of 2017 and notes that the Executive Office of the President, the Vice President, Department of Energy, and Congress have all been lobbied.

On April 30, “HAT” or Henry A. Terhune, a partner at Akin Gump, worked to “review/edit draft letter for OSU letter to Secretary Perry regarding 202c petition…” It is unclear what or who OSU is in the lobbyist’s note, but it could be referring to Ohio State University.

Coordinating with members of Congress to influence the Trump administration

In March, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on two separate letters sent by members of Congress asking FERC and President Trump to intervene to keep coal and nuclear power plants open. “FirstEnergy insists it has not been involved in either of these new lobbying campaigns,” John Funk reported.

“Some form of 202(c) or some other emergency act is necessary if we’re going to have national security,” McKinley said. “I’m calling on you to use whatever legal power you have so … we can have a reliable grid system.”

“I hope your remarks have been televised and we can put them up,” Perry responded, “because you have succinctly made the point of exactly what has to happen in this country from the standpoint of being able to protect the resilience and reliability of our electric grid.”

Don Moul, the president of FirstEnergy Solutions Generation Companies, was personally involved in Akin Gump’s work around the “E&C meeting,” according to multiplelog entries.

On April 27, Rothfus and McKinley put out a press release announcing their latest effort to urge “the Trump administration to protect coal and nuclear power plants,” a letter signed by 20 members of Congress.

Since March 21, 2018, the Debtors have requested that the firm provide management of an advocacy campaign in support of legislation related to nuclear energy in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the Firm has agreed to provide such services.

John Giesser, COO for the Dewey Square Group, disclosed a monthly fee of $98,500 for Jason Cohen and Jonathan Drobis to work on the FirstEnergy Solutions campaign. Cohen is the head of the firm’s National Grassroots Practice and Drobis is a principal in the same practice.

Dewey Square Group is a Hill + Knowlton Strategies company that runs advocacy and astroturf campaigns for corporations. According to the Washington Post, the firm “has been paid by General Motors Corp., the American Insurance Association, AT&T Corp., Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and Microsoft, among others, to drum up support from voters for legislation the companies advocate.”

On April 19, Verhoff reviewed a “DSG plan for grassroots mobilization in PA/OH…”

Akin Gump worked with Dewey Square Group and a number of other lobbying firms on the state campaigns. Verhoff was involved in discussions about a FirstEnergy meeting with Richard Cordray, the Democratic candidate for governor in Ohio.

Verhoff reported an April 1 meeting with “Juan/Oxley to discuss Columbus outreach and related strategy” and to “discuss Kasich outreach, OH targets, and campaign issues…”

Several bills to bail out FirstEnergy’s nuclear power plants in Ohio stalled under former Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, whose resignation amidst an FBI investigationappeared to open the door for Rep. Larry Householder to mount an early bid for the speaker position. Householder is a co-sponsor of the latest version of FirstEnergy’s “Zero Emissions Nuclear,” or ZEN, bailout legislation.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on how before Ohio’s primary elections, FirstEnergy made contributions to Householder’s campaign and to candidates who were likely to support his bid for speaker. Two days later, Akin Gump reported work to “Review media report on lobbying and also Ohio political participation by FE (parent).”

Householder decided to wait until 2019 to mount his bid for speaker, and the speakerless Ohio House remains mired in a political stalemate that has stalled votes on any legislation.

Meanwhile, Akin Gump was engaged in staff discussions of new “draft OH legislation by Rep. Ardnt.” It is not clear what the new draft bill will entail.

“All options to prevent the closure of nuclear plants should be explored,” John Kotek, the vice president of policy development and public affairs for NEI, said in a statementregarding the 202(c) petition that FirstEnergy Solutions filed with Secretary Perry.

On April 9, Akin Gump’s Terhune worked to “Review ICF proposed study proposal for NEI on resilience analysis and correspondence with staff re same…”

NEI called on FERC to “Foster resilience by adopting planning standards and market policies such that generators that contribute to resilience are incentivized to participate in the market.” In short, this was a call for action to bail out nuclear power plants.

While residents of some communities may benefit from bailouts that preserve jobs and tax revenue that power plants provide, far more consumers will be left to pay the bill. Ultimately, it is the lawyers and lobbyists at Akin Gump, as well as FirstEnergy’s shareholders, that seem poised to benefit at consumers’ expense.

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